Browse Items: 25

Phil discusses the origins of the term "running set," going back to when the English folklorist and collector Cecil Sharp first encountered southern Appalachian dancing.For a demonstration of the actual dance, see this video called by Stew Shacklette. For a more authentic presentation of the dance as Sharp collected it, with no instruments playing…

The square dance caller in Southern dance traditions plays a somewhat different role than his Northern counterpart. Phil looks at the way a Southern caller improvises and uses basic figures in different ways.

Jim discusses features that make modern square dancing different from traditional squares, including the unpredictable nature of the calls, the necessity for lessons, and the club structure that provides an important social element.

Jim points out that there are only a few basic formations in modern square dancing. One of the distinctive features of modern squares is the way that a series of basic moves are combined into one call. Swing Thru was an early example of this; Ed Gilmore objected to that term, saying that he could call the moves using more basic terminology. Later…

New calls such as Wheel and Deal and Swing Thru gave modern square dance callers powerful tools for creating new choreography and patterns of movement. Callers discovered that the sequence "Wheel and Deal, Double Pass Thru, Centers In, and Cast Off 3/4," repeated three times, would get all dancers back where they had started—a triple zero, which…

The call "square through" provided callers with a new tool for moving dancers around on the dance floor. Jim describes how callers experimented with the figure and how he introduced it in many different setups in his classes.

Jim discusses his own introduction to modern squares with caller Al Brundage in 1949. He talks about the early development of modern, showing how this new activity began to separate from its traditional roots.

Phil Jamison discusses his research into the origins of American square dance in the south, and describes the key role that African-American musicians played . There are the well-known musical elements—the role of the banjo, for example—and Phil also points out that the first callers were African-American. Even some distinctive square dance…

Caller Bob Dalsemer discusses some of the choices he makes in deciding what kind of squares to include in a dance program. What kind of music is available? Who are the dancers and what are they expecting? What material have I already introduced in the program on which I can build?

Caller Bob Dalsemer discusses ways that square dance callers can present basic figures in different variations, provided that they understand the basic structure of a given dance. This gives the caller flexibility in shaping a program to fit a particular audience.

Caller Bob Dalsemer describes his experiences in traditional dance communities. Each community may have just a few break figures that appear in all dances, which means that callers can program a lot of dances in an evening without much instruction. He contrasts that with the squares called in contemporary contra dance communities, for example,…

What are some of the influences that affect a traditional community dance? Larry bases his comments on his research in southwestern Pennsylvania, a region that has been influenced by both southern Appalachian and northern dance styles.

Larry Edelman discusses his experiences studying traditional dances in southwestern Pennsylvania; in particular, he ended up studying with caller Jerry Goodwin. Larry began to appreciate how dancers and callers and musicians are links in a chain, keeping alive rich traditions from the past and passing them on to the future.

What role does an evening of dancing play in the lives of the people who live in that community? Caller Larry Edelman discusses the social context in which the dancing takes place in traditional dance communities.

Bill Litchman continues his discussion about educator Lloyd "Pappy" Shaw and the important role he played in square dance. Here, he focuses on the impact that Shaw's Cheyenne Mountain Dancers had in creating interest in squares, how Shaw's summer classes started, and a description of Shaw's philosophy of dance.

An interview with caller Bill Litchman about educator Lloyd "Pappy" Shaw and the important role he played in square dance. Many see Shaw as a defining figure in the transition from traditional to modern squares. Certainly his demonstration team of high school students, the Cheyenne Mountain Dancers, attracted great attention and got viewers excited…